Page 35 of Hollow Trace

Quinn hummed against her flesh, switching sides, pooling all that heat low in her belly. “Definitely wilder. Wonder if that’s true for anything else?”

“Quinn…”

His name left her on a rush of air as he kissed his way down her body, worshipping every inch of skin as if he’d never touched her before until he managed to wedge himself between her thighs. He tilted his head, staring at her as he dragged his finger through her drenched folds.

He moaned, testing her with a hint of penetration. “Wow, you always did have a hair trigger, baby.”

Scout pushed onto her elbows, wondering when she’d released his hair. “Are you seriously being smug right now?”

“Are you denying it?”

She snorted. “Just wait until I’m on my knees, babe. I’ll show you who has a hair trigger.”

“I’ll consider myself warned. But for now…”

Scout collapsed on the bed as Quinn dipped between her thighs, blowing a heated breath across her flesh before sweeping his tongue the length of her. Pleasure arced across her closed eyes, heat burning beneath her skin. He hummed again, the tiny vibrations nearly pushing her over the edge.

Too long.

Wishing. Dreaming.

Having him touch her like this…

Quinn shifted, his massive shoulders wedging her legs farther apart as he teased her with the tip of his finger before slowly sinking it inside. “Christ, watching you take me.” He made another pass, sucking on her clit until dots sparked in the darkness. “I could do this for hours.”

She panted through the rush of fire lacing along her flesh. “Seconds. You have seconds.”

He laughed, repeating the intimate caress, dropping a kiss on her hip. “Just our first night, Scout. Nowhere near our last.”

God, his voice.

All gravelly and raw, as if being with her was pushing him past him limits, too. He tasted her, again, licking and nipping as he started up a rhythm designed to get her close without actually pushing her over. She fisted the sheets, hoping the feel of the cotton clenched in her fingers would stem the need, but it was hopeless.

The light flicks.

The low, raspy sounds he made as he all but devoured her did her in. Had her chanting his name as she rolled her head across the mattress, desperate to go over, but not wanting it to end.

Quinn paused, staring up her body as he smiled, then added another finger.

Scout pushed her head into the bed, panting to the point her lungs started to burn, none of the oxygen getting through. Tears leaked from her eyes, every nerve on fire, when he launched up the bed.

He tsked when she grabbed his arms, tried to anchor herself. “Definitely wilder.” He circled his finger, sparking more flashes across her vision. “No more teasing, Scout. I want your eyes on me. I need to know this isn’t another dream. That you’re really here, with me.”

He held her gaze, keeping her poised on that precipice until she wanted to scream. Kissing her, he thumbed her clit as he plunged deep — sent her teetering off the edge.

She opened her mouth in a soundless scream, his name finally rasping free as that coil snapped, shattered her into a million pieces. Heat pulsed through her veins, the room burning to black. Quinn’s body pressed against hers was the only force holding her down.

He kissed her closed eyes, smiling at her when she finally pried them open, drinking in all that hazel. “I’ll never get tired of the way you give yourself over to me. That…”

He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “I might have a condom somewhere in my wallet. Hell, you probably have a supply in the bunker. But…”

She flicked his hair out of his eyes, loving the way it simply fell back. “We haven’t used protection since we were in high school. And I’m still on birth control…”

His jaw flexed, that muscle in his temple jumping. “And if something happened and you got pregnant?”

“Then, I guess we’re starting a family a bit sooner than planned. Because that’s what I want, Quinn. A home. A future, with a couple kids, a shaggy dog who tracks mud everywhere. Maybe a cat who judges our worth on a daily basis. And I want it with you. Sure, waiting until this thing with Finch is over, when Brea’s back and safe, would be best, but I’m having a hard time caring if fate intervenes. But only if that’s also what you want.”

Any remaining shadows lifted from his face, all that love shone back at her. “I’ve wanted all that since the fifth grade, I just didn’t realize I might run out of time. That we’d run out of time. And just so there aren’t any doubts, I’m all-in. Regardless of what happens, how long it takes, I’m not giving you up, again.”